Kahne earns 'wild card' entry in Winner's Circle

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Kasey Kahne has joined an elite group of drivers as a result of his victory in the Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Kahne's second career victory earned the Ray Evernham-owned No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge team a spot in NASCAR's Winner's Circle Program, if Kahne enters, qualifies and competes in the remaining 32 races on the schedule this season beginning with Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Kahne joins the Winner's Circle Program as a "wild card," leaving one more "wild card" slot open to an additional race winner this season that is not already in the program.

The Winner's Circle Program, which starts each season with the top 10 winning drivers from the previous season, is designed to reward teams who have typified the best in NASCAR racing. Two "wild card" slots are available each year, making a total of 12 maximum spots open for the program in any season.

Teams are rewarded through prize money posted by each track running a Nextel Cup event. A total of $130,000 is posted by each track for the Winner's Circle participants for each of the races.

Kahne and the Evernham team are joining some of the biggest names in the sport on the Winner's Circle Program, including Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, and Matt Kenseth, as well as some of the sport's rising stars such as Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman.

Biffle led the selection process this season by winning six races in 2005. He was followed by reigning Nextel Cup champion Stewart, who won five times last year. Newcomer Edwards was next with four victories. Johnson followed, having also won four races. (Ties are broken by finishing position in the final Nextel Cup car owner point standings.) Biffle was second in points.

Following Johnson in the selection were Gordon (four wins, 11th in points) and Jamie McMurray, who replaced 2004 series champion Kurt Busch (three wins, 10th in points) at Roush Racing. The Winner's Circle Program eligibility remains with a winning car owner in the event driver changes occur from one season to the next.

Kyle Busch (two wins in 2005 and 20th in points) was the next driver selected, followed by Martin (one win, fourth in points); Newman (one win, sixth in points); and Kenseth, the 2003 series champion (one win, seventh in points).

Each Winner's Circle driver, on behalf of their car owner, makes several appearances during the season to assist tracks in publicizing their Nextel Cup events.